Concerned physical therapist has advice for ailing UConn star

I am on a mission of higher calling to help make Emeka Okafor whole.

Dave Solomon

Published 12:00 am, Tuesday, March 9, 2004

I come not to question a superior University of Connecticut medical staff and its state-of-the-art resources, but  to paraphrase the words of coach Jim Calhoun following Sundays loss to Syracuse  to find out what the hell is going on.

Im not certain that using the word hell on a mission of higher calling is very productive, but I beg your indulgence for I, too, am in utter turmoil since watching the best college basketball player in America and an equally tremendous role model hobble around the Carrier Dome Sunday.

It is why I didnt summarily hit the delete button on a couple of e-mails Monday morning, or give some crazy person on my telephone a rude adios.

I am listening to all who might be of help, because, geez, the NCAA tournament is staring us in the face. Its this close.

One e-mail struck me as particularly interesting and valid Monday. A similar e-mail was sent to a member of the UConn basketball staff and the schools Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway.

And so I thought, what if the author of that e-mail is the same guy that shows up on Joan of Arcadia; the guy in the clown costume, or as the mime, or a food slinger behind the lunch room counter?

What if he is "that" he, or if he is that Joan, or far more to the point, if he actually can help?

I dont know this Brian Elmo fellow who signed the particular e-mail, but after a couple of conversations, Im reasonably sure he bleeds Husky blue and that he is extremely well-versed as a senior physical therapist at Amfit Physical Therapy in Greenwich.

What if, out of the one or 10 or 1,000 dismissible e-mails that come UConns way concerning Okafors back, he has correctly diagnosed the injury as an often misdiagnosed unaligned right sacroiliac joint? And what if he can, in fact, put the 25 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots back in Okafors game in time for a national championship?

How would I live with myself if I turned a deaf ear to a man who comes only to help? I would be no better than the Romans, would I?

So, much like an investigator who sifts through the seemingly endless and useless set of clues for a lead, I present you Brian Elmo, 30, a UConn sports medicine graduate with a masters from Old Dominion University and a native of Milford.

Understand, we are in delicate territory here. The FBI doesnt want to be publicly corrected by the CIA, and the Mayo Clinic doesnt want to be shown up by Yale-New Haven Hospital. You get the point.

"Im not saying Im the cure-all for (Okafor), but Im almost 100 percent certain it is a sacroiliac problem," Elmo said. "When the SI joint moves out of place, the muscles often spasm to protect the back. Im not looking for anything out of this. I just cant stand to watch this guy suffer like this. It just kills me. I dont care about my name (getting out). I just want the guy to get better. It is so frustrating to me because I treat a lot of people with (sacroiliac alignment problems)."

Elmo worked closely with New York City osteopathic specialist Dr. David Gentile, who helped put former New York Mets infielder Edgardo Alfonso back on the field after other renowned diagnoses failed to ascertain the problem as having to do with the alignment of the sacroiliac joint.

"I cant guarantee (he can help make Okafors back pain disappear), but I can guarantee hell have the best chance of that," Elmo said. "Do I feel confident it is the sacroiliac joint? Do I feel confident there is treatment he hasnt utilized yet? Yeah."

Dont you think that the UConn medical team has consulted with experts on every course of action? Isnt that what they do?

"Maybe theyve found an SI guy," Elmo said. "If they found a guy getting off the plane, as Calhoun said (Sunday), Im happy. Im just saying there are doctors and therapists who maybe can work with this problem in a way they havent yet."

As to the e-mail from Elmo, Hathaway responded, "We have a full complement of medical staff that has served our student-athletes and our university for a long time. They constantly look at who are the best consultants to utilize on different injuries. So many people have different areas of expertise.

"Emeka is being looked at by top-flight medical people as are all of our athletes. This is a situation where we find the best people. We thank everyone for their interest and their support and share the information with the appropriate people."

At worst, Elmo is guilty of nothing more than caring too overtly. At best, another viewpoint that conceivably was not heard was advanced. Either way, we are one day closer to the NCAA tournament and a little more anxious to find out what the heck is going on.